By Christopher Haner

The Neighborhood Access Group (NAG) staged a rally Tuesday to protest the new red brick sidewalks on Huntington Avenue, claiming they are not safe for handicapped people. The City of Boston and the Department of Public Works spent thousands of dollars to install the bricks that the Boston Globe called the “birthstone” of the city, to remind citizens and visitors of Boston’s past. “We wanted them to build a smooth sidewalk,” said John Kelly, a member of NAG. “We would not mind bricks along the side of the walkway, but they should have never made the entire sidewalk of brick.” According to Kristin Schneider of Adaptive Environments, the problem with the bricks is their design. They are extremely uneven when laid into the sidewalk, making it very easy for people to trip over them. Schneider also said the new sidewalk was not accessible to handicapped people. “They are a very bad design,” Schneider said. “Imagine yourself confined to a wheelchair, or walking with a cane, or not having the power to see. Do you think that you could travel these sidewalks everyday without a problem?” Kelly said the handicapped are not the only group of people who will have to suffer for these sidewalks. They will be difficult to shovel in the winter and will be slippery. They will also be slippery when covered with wet leaves in the fall. During the summer they are hard to sweep, and during the spring they yet again become slippery when wet. These bricks are extremely menacing at night as well. Freshman biochemistry major Ann Tukpah said she does not think that the sidewalks are a good idea. “They make it hard for people to travel,” Tukpah said. “I think perhaps they should have only made an experimental sidewalk and seen how that worked out first.” Freshman undecided major Katie Flora said that the sidewalks are “nice, but very uneven.” “I think they are fine for people without disabilities, but unfair to people with them,” Flora said. “Maybe they should have some brick sidewalks but alternate roots made of smooth stone.”